


A Matter of Survival

by misura



Category: Betrayal at Krondor
Genre: Bad Guys Made Them Do It, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, One-Sided Delekhan/Gorath (Riftwar Saga)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:54:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27329146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Had it only been his own life at stake, Gorath knew he would have let Delekhan kill him before laying a finger on Owyn - but it was not.
Relationships: Owyn Beleforte/Gorath
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	A Matter of Survival

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CorpseBrigadier](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorpseBrigadier/gifts).



_"Unless you want me to trade places with you, I suggest you make it a good show,"_ Delekhan had said. _"For both your sakes,"_ and Gorath had thought that if he were Owyn, he'd have replied that actually, he'd be quite happy to go from being chained up, unarmed, cold and hungry to being warm, well-fed, armed and free.

In Delekhan's place, he wouldn't have left himself alive, though. He would have ended it, quickly, cleanly and definitively. He wouldn't have given himself a chance to escape.

Not that being forced to rape his best friend in front of an audience was much of a chance.

Still, Gorath told himself that it was better than some of the alternatives. It was certainly better than being forced to watch as Delekhan did it himself. 

Moredhel respected strength. It seemed safe to assume these particular Moredhel whom Delekhan had selected as his closest companions also respected brutality, cruelty. If Gorath could impress them, show them he was as good at displaying these qualities as Delekhan, or even better, some of them might begin to wonder if Delekhan was truly their best choice.

Gorath did not expect any overt offers of help, but anyone might slip a prisoner something useful without too much danger to themselves.

 _A chance,_ he thought, trying to stay calm, in control of himself. _All I need is a chance._

Had it only been his own life at stake, Gorath knew he would have let Delekhan kill him before laying a finger on Owyn - but it was not.

"Bring the human," Delekhan said, looking at Gorath as if he were waiting for something, hungering for Gorath to do or show him something - to beg him to stop this, perhaps, as if Gorath would be so foolish as to believe there was any chance at all Delekhan would listen.

 _The time for pleading is long past. This will only end with death._ If Delekhan wanted to play games instead, that was his mistake, and Gorath would not hesitate to take advantage.

Next to his Moredhel guards, Owyn looked even more vulnerable than usual. One of them shoved him, saying something to his companion and laughing, and Gorath felt every muscle in his body tense as desire to show them what happened to people who dared harm his friends coursed through him.

Delekhan chuckled, sounding pleased and, Gorath thought, oddly relieved.

"You could have served me, you know," Delekhan said. "I would have rewarded you quite well for loyalty."

"My loyalty is to my people," Gorath said, though he knew this was a foolish argument to resume. Delekhan had gone too far to back down now, to be reached by anything Gorath said. "And to my friends."

"This weakling human?" Delekhan's lip curled. "How low have you sunk. It almost makes me feel ashamed that I would have once called you my brother."

 _Welcome to my world._ Gorath felt a smile tug at his lips. Owyn might be rubbing off on him.

"You think he's still going to be your friend after today?" Delekhan no longer sounded pleased.

 _I think he is going to live, as will I. I pray that one day, you will look back on this moment and realize that it was when you lost any chance you still had left at saving yourself._ "Perhaps. Perhaps not. I cannot imagine the matter of any great interest to you."

Delekhan gestured, and the guards gave Owyn a final shove which brought him to his knees.

Gorath felt another surge of anger, suppressing it by reminding himself of what was at stake, rather than by what he would have to do next.

Delekhan had hand-picked his audience, of course. Most Moredhel might serve him, yet Gorath knew many of them would be disgusted by what was about to happen here.

Owyn turned his head as Gorath stepped forward. His hands had been left untied, though he'd been blindfolded. Gorath wondered if Delekhan thought Owyn might not recognize Gorath, if Delekhan thought he might threaten Gorath with revealing his identity to Owyn.

"Owyn," he said, low enough to go unheard by their audience.

"What's happening? Are we being executed?" Owyn asked, sounding remarkably calm at the prospect.

Gorath felt a rush of pride. He wanted to turn to Delekhan and tell him, _See? Are these the words of a weakling? Is this the cowering of someone unworthy of respect?_

"No. We are to - " Gorath searched for the right word " - perform."

"I'm not sure how well I can play blindfolded," Owyn said. "Also, this kind of feels like a tough crowd. Think they'd be satisfied with another rousing rendition of This Kingdom Mine?"

_If I never have to listen to that song again, it will be too soon._

Gorath caught Delekhan looking at him, frowning. He was almost tempted to smile, but then he recalled their situation, the threat. This was not a time for levity, however much he might appreciate Owyn's courage.

"What will satisfy them is something I would not give them willingly," he said, reaching out to put his hand on Owyn's shoulder. "Yet it is a choice between that, or death, and I would not see you dead."

Owyn smiled. "Thanks. I'd say I feel the same, but I can't see anything anyway, so."

It was not quite a promise that their bond would survive whatever came next, but Gorath judged it was as much as he might hope for - and more than he deserved, possibly, for having made Owyn a part of a quest with which he had had little to do.

"Trust me when I tell you there is little here that you would wish to see," he said, steeling himself, calling on the part of him that was Moredhel: calm, and cold, and calculating, and unbreakable.

_Trust me._

Gorath felt the interest of their audience sharpen as he pulled Owyn closer. Owyn came willingly enough, but the expression on his face was puzzled, confused. Clearly, he had not yet deduced what sort of 'performance' Gorath had been referring to.

 _I wish we could have done this sooner._ Gorath pressed his mouth to Owyn's in something that could barely be called a kiss. _I wish I could have spoken to you of my desires and discovered yours in return._ He had always told himself to wait, to not risk spoiling their easy companionship for the sake of mere carnal satisfaction. _I wish -_

"Stop!" Owyn said, and while Gorath suspected a fair number of the watching Mordehel did not understand the word itself, its meaning was clear enough by Owyn's tone. "I don't understand what's going on. What - "

 _It is me or him,_ Gorath did not say. He felt angry - with himself, with Delekhan, with Owyn, for being so oblivious. He knew it was an unworthy thought, a shameful feeling, yet he also knew that it was a feeling which might make use of.

He pulled Owyn close to him, Owyn's back to his stomach. Owyn was struggling against him now, more by instinct than because he actually knew, Gorath judged.

Owyn's pants were easy enough to unfasten, though Gorath struggled for a bit, his hands fumbling with a fastening he could not see. At least it got Owyn to finally realize what the plan was: he started struggling in earnest now.

"Stop! You don't want to do this. Please. You have to fight it, Gorath. You can't - "

 _I can. I have to._ The mere proximity of Owyn's body was enough to get him aroused. Gorath remembered all the times he had forced down his desires, all the times he had felt ashamed of his lust for someone who would only ever view him as a friend.

"You are wrong. I do want to do this," he whispered into Owyn's ear, feeling Owyn's shock as the words registered. He wanted to add, _You should stop fighting me._

"No. No. This isn't really you," Owyn said.

 _I wish to believe with all my soul that you are right._ There was little he could do to prepare Owyn, though it was easy enough to restrain Owyn with only one of his hands, freeing the other for a bit of groping.

Gorath was unsurprised to find Owyn utterly unaroused. He doubted their audience would have been pleased if it had been otherwise. They had come to witness rape, not sex, and Gorath had little choice but to give it to them.

Delekhan looked smug, satisfied, almost as if he _had_ traded places with Gorath and found the experience highly enjoyable, as if he took pleasure in the tightness of Owyn's body, the way Owyn's body still struggled against Gorath's invasion.

Gorath waited for Delekhan's gaze to meet his own. He told himself he wished to give Delekhan one last chance at redemption, at showing there was still a spark of honor left in him, however small and well-hidden.

Delekhan smirked, as if reading Gorath's mind. It was not until he heard Owyn gasp aloud in pain that Gorath realized that he had used Delekhan to distract himself from what he was doing.

 _You are beneath me._ Gorath made sure Delekhan read the thought in his eyes before he returned his attention to Owyn. He knew there was no way he could have made this easy, yet every sound Owyn made felt like an accusation.

 _I will make this right._ Gorath could not even begin to imagine how. He recalled that he had intended to be calm, cold. Delekhan would have been worse: that truth still held. By doing what he was doing, Gorath might be winning not only their lives but also their freedom, and ultimately the survival of his people. _I did not have a choice._

"Please. Stop."

"Shut up," Gorath growled, too late realizing he'd spoken in the Moredhel language.

Someone in the audience chuckled. Not Delekhan; Gorath would have recognized his voice.

He felt another flash of anger, mixed with shame. Neither would help him to end this, to give Delekhan what he wanted. Gorath wondered if he had stretched things out long enough, if he would end things only for Delekhan to declare Gorath's efforts lacking, insufficient, before taking Gorath's place, as he had threatened.

"Gorath," Owyn said. "Please."

 _Not until I know that you are safe._ Gorath wanted to kiss Owyn again - a real kiss, this time. He wanted to feel Owyn's cock harden in his hand, to hear Owyn cry out in pleasure, rather than pain.

"Forgive me," he told Owyn, remembering to use the right language this time.

Owyn cried out once more, and Gorath heard himself cry out as well, and then it was done.

_Please. Let it be done. Let it be enough._

He felt someone stroke his hair, as if trying to offer him comfort. For a moment, he thought it was Owyn, but then a voice murmured, "Well done. There may be hope for you yet," and Gorath wished he had the strength to spit in Delekhan's face.

On reflection, he supposed it was as well that he had not, for Owyn's sake.


End file.
